West Coast champion Ben Cousins is a late withdrawal from Thursday's AFL Legends Game at Marvel Stadium after injuring his knee.
Cousins recently underwent a hernia operation and had begun ramping up his preparation for the marquee clash, which is returning after a six-year hiatus.
However, amid his training regime, the Brownlow medallist injured his knee, and says he is set for surgery, ironically, the first time in his career.
"I stepped up my training in preparation, and unfortunately, I've done myself a mischief. Disappointed, but yeah, I've hurt my knee, so I've never had an operation on my knee. I'm going to need some surgery at some point, unfortunately," Cousins said on Mix94.5's Pete & Kymba with Ben Cousins.
"I hadn't been doing much running at all… because of the hernia, so then, just in a short space of time, I had to ramp it up pretty quickly if I was going to be out running and going to kick, so yeah, I wasn't exactly sure what I'd done, but it was quite sore the last week. So I've since had scans and realised I'm getting old."
The full teams for the Legends Game were released recently.
The return of the marquee clash will mark the 30th anniversary of the passing of one of the game's greats from prostate cancer - E.J. Whitten - a true legend of Australian football, whom the game was played in honour of for decades.
The contest was first introduced to football in 1996 in honour of Whitten, shortly after his passing.
We have seen 24 matches between Victoria and the All Stars since its introduction. The Vics hold a slight advantage over the Stars, winning 12 games to 11, with one draw in 2000.
You still have time to secure your tickets if you want to attend the Marvel event. If you can't attend the match but would still like to participate, virtual seats are available for purchase. All proceeds will go to charity.
